A Blue Day in the Great Sandy Strait

Probably one of the most stunning days I have had out on a boat was this day... Out in the Great Sandy Strait. We were heading out on a Dolphin & Orca Watching trip.

The Great Sandy Strait is an 70 km Australian sand passage estuary separating mainland Queensland, from World Heritage listed Fraser Island.

The day began like this at 8:45am; Blue skies with low lying fog over Fraser Island.

The closer we got to Fraser Island, the thicker the fog, and the worse the visibility became with no blue sky in sight...

Around 1pm, blue skies reappeared above and a 'Fogbow' appeared. A fogbow is a phenomenon similar to a rainbow, produced by sunlight shining on fog.

As we headed back to the Mainland, the fog continued to lift...

And the sky was the most beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds...

Serenity...

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Orcas in the Bay

A couple of months ago, my husband & I drove up to Maryborough, QLD. For Michael, it was a work conference but for me, the opportunity for a change of scenery.

As we were only a 40 minute drive from Hervey Bay, I decided to check if the Humpback Whales had made their way that far north on their northern migration. Unfortunately it was too early, BUT I discovered there was a pod of Orcas (Killer Whales) that had managed to get themselves stranded in the "Great Sandy Straits" -  the body of water between Fraser Island and the Mainland. This is the first time this has happened.

So, I organised to go on one of the Dolphin Watching Cruises in the bay, hoping to get a sighting of the Orcas. When I called to book, I was assured that there would be Orca sightings! We left at 8am and returned around 2:30pm.

Here are some of the first images I took...

The Department of Marine Parks and the Seaworld Research & Rescue Foundation were out on the bay observing the Orca pod, checking on their health status (3 of the pod of 12 died) and hoping the Orcas would return to the open sea...

No boats, other than the Department of Marine Parks and the Seaworld Research & Rescue Foundation. were allowed within 300m of the pod so we were ordered to cut the engines when we approached that vicinity. However the inquisitive Orcas decided to take a closer look and came right up to our boat...

It was a wonderful experience to see these incredible creatures in the wild...

I had such a wonderful time, so I booked another cruise for the following day (at a 20% discount). The weather was dry but extremely foggy the next day. Visibility was difficult...

But I still managed some great shots as the Orcas came right up to our boat again...

About a week or so after this, the Orca pod made their way back out into the ocean.
It is thought the reason they came into the bay was because the 3 that died were unwell. It appeared that the pod would not leave due to mourning the loss of their family members.

It certainly was the experience of a lifetime!!

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